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Report: Post-Recession, Millennials Love D.C.

WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 30: Tourists walk past the U.S. Capitol as the Congress remains gridlocked over legislation to continue funding the federal government September 30, 2013 in Washington, DC. The House of Representatives passed a continuing resolution with language to defund U.S. President Barack Obama's national health care plan two days ago, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has indicated the U.S. Senate will not consider the legislation as passed by the House. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

LANHAM, Md. (CBSDC) — The population of people between the ages of 25 and 34 swelled in D.C. and the surrounding areas between 2010 and 2012, new Census data shows.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, the area gained an average of 12,583 people in that age bracket per year during that time frame.

William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, tells WSJ that those numbers represent the biggest post-recession gain of any large metro area in the country.

By comparison, D.C. was losing people in that age range, often called millennials, during the recession.

The Denver area follows closely behind D.C. in attracting millennials, seeing a 11,988 annual increase between 2010 and 2012. But the numbers say 25-to-34-year-olds were already moving there during the recession.

Cities like D.C., which lost millennials during the recession but are attracting them in droves these days, include San Francisco, Minneapolis-St.Paul and Oklahoma City.

Millennial populations in bigger markets like Los Angeles and New York haven’t changed as drastically post-recession.

Cities that were attracting many more millennials during the recession than they are now include Boston, Dallas, Atlanta, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Tampa, Nashville and Phoenix.